It helps that it such a great song, but no one covers “better man” like Eric Church… he’s putting out his live album Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive next Friday, February 13th, which was recorded over two nights during shows at The Pinnacle in Nashville earlier this year. Of course, back in 2017 during his Holdin’ My Own Tour, did a total 62 shows from January to May, playing with no openers and two full sets with an intermission. It was truly an incredible tour due to the fact that he consistently giving fans over three hours of live music each and every night, and he was the only one playing… don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of times that I’ve gone to a show specifically to see a certain opener, but hearing three straight hours of music from your favorite artist is just second to none. And following that tour, he released a series of live albums called 61 Days in Church, which ended up being five volumes and a staggering 160 songs in total. Of course, you got multiple live versions of nearly every song in his discography upon its recording (which ended at Mr. Misunderstood at the time). But fans were treated with one of the most eclectic collections of covers throughout the albums, which often included songs that related to the city or state he was in. From Willie Nelson’s “Me and Paul” to The Band’s “The Weight” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “The Ballad of Curtis Loew,” there were some truly incredible covers on that extensive tracklist, but one that I’ve consistently gone back to is his rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Better Man.” I already loved that song before I ever heard Eric’s live performance, but it’s no secret he loves rock music and has a lot of that influence in his own music, which is part of what makes it such a good fit for him musically. Of course,  “Better Man” is eleventh track on the band’s 1994 third studio album, Vitalogy. It was written by frontman Eddie Vedder, and despite the fact that it was never released as an official single release, “Better Man” topped the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, spending eight weeks at number one. The song was later included on Pearl Jam’s 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003). And because Pearl Jam started in Seattle, Washington, it only made sense for Chief to cover “Better Man” during a show at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington back in March of 2017. His voice is perfect, the passion is totally there and his band is electric, and you can feel that through the speakers even still… it has all the elements of a perfect cover, and I’ll never forget when he released the live album that I absolutely wore this song out in particular. I was a sophomore in college at the time, and I remember forcing my friends to listen to it on repeat, nonstop, for weeks when it first came out when we were driving around Boone. I’m not sure they loved it as much as I did (clearly, we need to work on their taste), but there’s a certain something about it I can’t quite put my finger on that gives it that something special that makes a cover like this so memorable. It’s certainly not easy to do a song like this justice, and if you’ve never heard it before because let’s be honest, there were a ton of covers to sort through when this all came out, it’s well past time to change that… turn it up: “Better Man” “Better Man” 2026 Free the Machine Tour  Feb. 5 || Omaha, Neb. || CHI Health Center || Ella Langley Feb. 6 || Sioux Falls, S.D. || Denny Sanford PREMIER Center || Ella Langley Feb. 7 || St. Paul, Minn. || Grand Casino Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 12 || Toronto, Ont. || Scotiabank Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 13 || Buffalo, N.Y. || KeyBank Center || Ella Langley Feb. 14 || Albany, N.Y. || MVP Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 19 || North Little Rock, Ark. || Simmons Bank Arena || 49 Winchester Feb. 20 || Kansas City, Mo. || T-Mobile Center || 49 Winchester Feb. 21 || St. Louis, Mo. || Enterprise Center || 49 Winchester Feb. 26 || Tulsa, Okla. || BOK Center || Stephen Wilson Jr. Feb. 27 || Fort Worth, Texas || Dickies Arena || Stephen Wilson Jr. Feb. 28 || Austin, Texas || Moody Center || Stephen Wilson Jr. Mar. 5 || Knoxville, Tenn. || Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center || 49 Winchester Mar. 6 || Greensboro, N.C. || First Horizon Coliseum || 49 Winchester Mar. 7 || North Charleston, S.C. || North Charleston Coliseum || 49 Winchester Mar. 19 || Birmingham, Ala. || Legacy Arena at the BJCC || 49 Winchester Mar. 20 || Atlanta, Ga. || State Farm Arena || 49 Winchester Mar. 27 || Hollywood, Fla. || Hard Rock Live || Kashus Culpepper Apr. 3 || Greenville, S.C. || Bon Secours Wellness Arena || Ashley McBryde Apr. 4 || Charlotte, N.C. || Spectrum Center || Ashley McBryde Apr. 10 || Jacksonville, Fla. || VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena || Ashley McBryde Apr. 11 || Tampa, Fla. || Benchmark International Arena || Ashley McBrydeThe post “Can’t Find A Better Man”: Why Eric Church’s 2017 Pearl Jam Cover Is Still One Of The All-Time Best first appeared on Whiskey Riff.